Pontus Marine LTD- Leader of fishing industry in Somaliland

June 26, 2017

Leaked - Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics emerges as real partner of DP World in Berbera

(The Indian Ocean News letter ) - According to our sources, the state-owned shipping company Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESL) - which is in the process of being privatized- ought to do well out of the contract to manage the port of Berbera in Somaliland.The United Arab Emirates port operator DP World celebrated winning the $442 million contract to develop the port with Somaliland president Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud, ESL, the Ethiopian company headed by Yacob Yalla, is going to get a 19% share of the cake. It was initially expected to get only 10% of the deal to operate the infrastructure.

The development of the Berbera corridor is very much a priority for Ethiopia which wants wider access to the sea so that it can boost its exports. The Ethiopian authorities are waiting for the results of an evaluation of ESL’s assets to decide which company will buy up to 40% of the firm when it’s privatized. According to our sources the two shipping companies that Ethiopia favors are Denmark’s Maersk and China Merchants Holding (CMH).
The latter is a subsidiary of China Merchants Group.